I Heart My Polo Lifestyle

Remember back when I mentioned that I met this really dope alt-rock group who I loved & was going to work with them shortly after we met? I believe I had to recant that & correct my post; I was actually going to be featured alongside the lead singer/songwriter of that group (Christopher Chu of The Morning Benders) on a project produced by 2 of the funniest, craziest & most talented producers to step into the game right now. I’ve only had email & Twitter correspondences with these guys & I already know they’re live as Hell… Oh & crazy. Come to think of it, I believe we all been on video iChat with each other once or twice.

Charlie “Skin” Duff & Paavo “Bones” Steinkamp make up this production duo known as Skin & Bones. With this song in particular, they came up with a track that I found “oddly” familiar. It was the ‘feel’ of the track which brought feelings of nostalgia to me. They brought back that R&B sound from the earlier ’90s which I hadn’t heard since the early ’90s. You remember when groups like Sky, Hi-Five & H-Town were out? Those male R&B groups who all dressed alike then you’d get mad at your girlfriend because she had cut out the photos of that one light-skinned/curly headed singer from the group from her Black Beat, Ebony & Jet magazines & hung them up all over her wall? The Elgin Lumpkin lookin’-*ss-n*ggas. Uh… Yeah… THAT sound. I have to be honest here as I was a bit ‘thrown off’ by the track initially. I was like, “Man… This sounds like some ol’ 1990s sh*t that I wouldn’t listen to UNLESS I was at a house party trying to rub up on something.” All of course before the reggae came on which was then my right of passage to fully dry hump a girl. C’mon now, don’t act like I was the only one doing this back then. Some of you STILL do this; probably fake-freaked off last weekend.

Needless to say, initially, I was a bit aprehensive on making up a rap for this beat. It wasn’t until I played this beat for my manager where he took one listen & loved the beat. I was like, “Really?!?? But this sounds like some ’90s R&B joint.” It turned out that was exactly why he liked the track: Because it sounds very authentic. Once he pointed that out, I heard & felt exactly what he meant. I wound up liking this track a lot… Then I went “in” on it. Please forgive me for having to catch up to speed to where you (Skin & Bones) were with the production. This song is dope!

Fun Fact:

I actually perform this song during my set. You’d have to come to one of my shows to see how it all goes down though. It’s always a crowd pleaser. Trust!

Wait ’til you heard this song though. I did my thing; Chris & Bernie definitely kill it as well as only they could. This song is a bit of an unexpected mix of talent but we come together perfectly to form VOLTRON. You guys are going to have to cop the song to get the full listen. iTunes baby!

(Click On Cover Art Above To Listen & Show Your Support… You Cheapskates!)

88-Keys:

No pretending
We’re not for games
Our love’s in a crisis
Like the stock exchange¹

We got a lot to gain
With this love
So you shouldn’t dismiss
Like pocket change

To a millionaire²
So let’s get this clear
Like the grade
On a rock with names³

I got fame
But it’s not the same
As having you in my corner
Like time out⁴

And when you’re
Off punishment
I guess
You’re not loving it

Now I gotta backtrack
To where we went wrong
When it felt so right
We were velcro tight

I was with a 10
But I didn’t have the heart
Or the smarts
So I guess this Tin Man played the part

The Scarecrow⁵ type
And there’s no nights
When I’m not thinking of you
I really want to love you

Let’s not focus
On what I can’t do
Let’s focus
On romance & candles

I want to love you
Like you love “it”
With no replicas
Or duplicates

I put the emphasis
On the wrong syllable⁶
Because I’m liable
To look you up & then slob you

Down
Unless you want to be a tease
Or you want to stay low key
By saying, “No ‘Keys” n’

Maybe I should
Book us a suite at The Seasons⁷
For reasons
You & I both believe in

Chorus:

88-Keys:

Now tell me is this love or what

Girl I think we’re there
If my words ain’t enough
And this ring is too much
Then we could pinky swear

And we’ll it at that
No applied pressure
No extreme measures
Just notes inside dressers

When you get up in the morning
To get dressed – You get blessed
With a little note
Then you get fresh⁸… Yep!

You start blushing
Turning red like the Russian flag
Then you start huffin’
Like your head’s in a duffle bag

And now you went
And got your body tense
I feel you
Like Spidey sense – Tingle⁹

Like Heidi/Spence’
Let’s act like we ain’t single¹⁰
And do this love thing
Like we’ve been vibin’ since

The days of our youth
When I was in the Bronx
You gotta love it
Like Ashley Wentz¹¹

You weren’t around
Like absent kids who faked having the flu
When I was dying
From abstinence

Now it’s time for us
To catch up on old times
Until we’re old timers
Dealing with Alzheimer’s

I want to love you
Like you love all diamonds¹²
Unless there’s conflict
Like Paula called Simon¹³ out

You know what I’m
Rhyming ’bout
You’re my American Idol
Other’s bombing out

Now here’s your golden ticket¹⁴
To come over & kick it
Now you’re finding out
I’m nice n’ signing out – Peace!

Notes:

1. If you don’t know that our country is going through economically tough times (to say the very least)… then you must be in the RIGHT country. Trade places? Never!
2. Millionaires do not carry pocket change (or so I was told). I think they’re allergic.
3. Diamonds anyone?
4. Unless you have children of your own or watch Super Nanny, this reference wouldn’t make any sense to the you. Now I place YOU on ‘time out’… Now GO to the corner & think about my clever line!
5. Think: Wizard of Oz.
6. A classic line said by Mike Meyers in the movie .
7. The Four Seasons Hotel. That one was for the etremely slow.
8. She’s finding out that “There’s Pleasure In It“… On her own. *blush* Egads!
9. Spider Man would get a tingling feeling whenever something dangerous was about to pop off. His catch phrase was, “My spider senses are tingling.” Spidey was a nickname some of his archenemies referred to him by.
10. There was a lot of media speculation as to whether Spencer Pratt & Heidi Montag were in really in love with each other or if they were rather in love with ‘the camera’. They eventually got married (for real). Egg on the media’s face.
11. Ashley Simpson, who married Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, gave birth to their son: Bronx Mowgli Wentz. Gotta love it like a mother’s love for her child right? *booyah* This line makes WAY more sense to you now doesn’t it?
12. Because “diamonds are a girl’s b.f.f.”
13. Conflict diamonds from Sierra Leone.
14. Think: American Idol
15. Again… Think: American Idol

Shouts:

• Skin & Bones for considering me for this incredibly produced song & project. You guys are a pair wild onions for real.
• Patrick Brown for expediting the check & keeping those on Twitter updated with my goings ons.
• Chris Chu for being dope as Hell. The hip hop community really need to check for you & I plan on doing all that I can to make that happen.
• Bernie Worrell for providing the extra funkiness to this batch of “Lemonade”.

Post Script: By the way, this is Bernie Worrell from PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC! Heard of that group? I’ll make another blog post on that living legend soon. Stay tuned mi gente. Peace!

~ by 88-Keys on September 16, 2009.

Posted in Performing Tonight... (Artists), Shameless Plugs (Press), Word Press (Lyrics)
Tags: 88-keys, bernie worrell, chris chu, p-funk, parliament-funkadelic, skin & bones, the morning benders